Stories from Ethiopia
Nuritu, Woman of Courage
“My children were so hungry, and my husband was so sick with stomach pains and in need of medical help,” Nuritu says, “that we loaned our only field to a neighbor for two years in return for one sack of maize. The maize is gone and we have nowhere to grow food. Sometimes we eat once a day, and sometimes we don’t eat for three or more days.”
Today, Nuritu’s only family income comes from selling rainwater, but in the very arid Chitugeto village, rain rarely falls. When rain falls, it goes into a community well and Nuritu fills a heavy clay pot with water from the well, cup-by-cup. You can see the pot on her back in the photo. She hoists it onto her back and walks two hours to the local rural market which is open on Thursdays and sometimes on Sundays.
“If I sell the whole pot, I earn 10 cents, but most of the time I only sell half,” she says.
With the five or 10 cents, Nuritu buys maize. “It’s not enough to feed the family, so we give the maize to our children, and me and my husband go without,” Nuritu continues. Drought-induced famine has decimated many parts of Ethiopia, leaving more than 11 million people without adequate food supplies. Sadly, children are the most vulnerable to sicknesses from malnutrition. In many cases, infants and children die from lack of nourishment. In many cases, infants and children don’t survive.
“I have been sad my entire life, and particularly this year,” Nuritu continues. “It’s hard for my children to see crops growing in the field that we loaned out for a bag of maize, and then they go to bed hungry. Tonight we have nothing to eat. Yesterday, we got food from some of our other neighbors because there has been no rain, so I couldn’t earn any money to buy food.
“Can you help us?” Nuritu asks.
Through ADRA’s food security programs, this courageous mother (and thousands of others just like her), could have the opportunity to establish access to sufficient food supplies—not just for today, but for tomorrow, also.
Chaltu, a Child Facing Marriage
“When Chaltu is 15, we will have to give her to a family in marriage, because we can’t afford to feed her,” Fatma, her mother, says. (Chaltu is the little girl holding the goat in the photograph.) She’s just eleven years old, and she doesn’t want to get married so soon.
“I’ve never owned a toy…never really been a child,” Chaltu says. “I feel sad because my little brother just died of starvation, and you can see that my little sister is also very weak. When I get up in the morning, all I think of is whether or not we will eat that day.”
Eighteen-month-old Kenenisa, Chaltu’s sister (the little girl in Fatma’s arms), has never tried to walk, and she can barely hold up her head. “Look at me,” Fatma says. “You can see what my children need. Isn’t it obvious? We need your help, please.”
Fatma and her seven children, along with Bayene, their father, live in Danbe Adansho village. They live in a one-room mud hut with no electricity or water. When ADRA workers visited, a mischievous dog ran out of their hut with their only cup in his mouth. The children chased the dog, laughing. For a moment, they forgot their hunger and pain.
Bayene and Fatma worked hard to grow crops, but drought killed the harvest, leaving them with just one and a half sacks of maize. They have sold the clothes off their backs to pay for medical care and a few grains of corn, but they have nothing left to sell. Fatma is scared she will lose her daughter. “I’m not producing enough milk because I only eat every two to three days,” she says.
As part of its food security program, and along with food aid, ADRA gave this family a goat that provides nourishing milk. One goat costs just $40. That’s a small investment to help save a life, isn’t it?
Will you help ADRA give life to more families through this matching grant opportunity?
Kediro, Father of Faith
“Sitting outside his hut, Kediro (the father in the photo) hung his head in shame. “I gave two of my children to my mother-in-law today because we have nothing to feed them. If I had kept them with me, they would have died,” he said. “Now my other children are crying for food and I feel helpless.”
Kediro is a man of faith. “All of my seven children are alive, thank God,” he says. He focuses on the blessings that God has given him through his children. And despite his poverty-stricken life and stark hunger, Kediro trusts that God will provide for all of his needs—in His time.
“We believe in God. If it weren’t for Him, my children would have died already. I’ve sometimes cried out and asked God why he is allowing me to face these trials. But that’s when I pray even harder to strengthen my faith!”
Kediro and his seven children, along with Sero, the gentle mother of the family, says, “When my son got sick recently, we had no money to take him to the clinic, but we prayed hard and God healed him. We want to work and take care of our children, but we have nothing.”
Kediro asks for help. “If ADRA could give me a cow, I could earn an income selling milk and my children would be nourished. If you gave me two oxen, that would change my life. A man that owns oxen can cultivate someone’s field, and he can earn a good living and take care of his own family—no more shame. Can you give me the opportunity to be such a man?”
Through its food security programs, ADRA can provide basic farming tools, seeds, and livestock that help families grow their own food and raise strong and healthy children.
